Software development is one of the toughest pursuits. Especially at that crucial point when you launch and really start interacting with clients. Nancy White has been developing a few lenses over at Squidoo and has posted her recent experience which, unfortunately, was a little dismissive. The good news is that Heath from Squidoo responded quickly (see Nancy’s comments), and even admitted their error.

Admitting errors is difficult. Doing so shows confidence in yourself and your company and builds credibility. It is also good to see Squidoo is monitoring the blogosphere closely.

Anyone in the process of developing online services should take careful note. The hygiene factors include a product which looks great, works well and does what clients (I can’t bring myself to calling people ‘users’) want. Yet hygiene only keeps us from getting sick. The health factors are all about the interactions, the relationships and how people feel after they have interacted. Health promotes growth.

BTW I’ve had a go at creating a lens on business narrative. Still a work in progress. I’m just having a play to see how things work.

Shawn, author of Putting Stories to Work, is one the world's leading business storytelling consultants. He helps executive teams find and tell the story of their strategy. When he is not working on strategy communication, Shawn is helping leaders find and tell business stories to engage, to influence and to inspire. Shawn works with Global 1000 companies including Shell, IBM, SAP, Bayer, Microsoft & Danone. Connect with Shawn on: